BMX Bites Back | The UCI World Cup Glasgow

REWATCH ROUND 1 >> HERE

REWATCH ROUND 2 >> HERE

BMX Bites Back | The UCI World Cup Glasgow

REWATCH ROUND 1 >> HERE

REWATCH ROUND 2 >> HERE

​Official practice and there was a palpable trepidation in the air. It was overcast at the Glasgow BMX Centre and there was a side wind, a significant side wind. A lot of brakes were being pulled at the bottom of the 8m hill, the first jump in Glasgow is no joke, in fact the entire track is big, steep, and technical, it would require full concentration at full speed!

While some riders just let go and went for it at the bottom of the hill, a significant number of the world’s best looked concerned, certainly not confident. The opening rounds of the 2022 UCI World Cup in Scotland were going to be interesting …

Overnight the BMX gods were consulted, and they capitulated. Saturday, round one … the sun emerged, the side wind was gone, riders looked happier. The Knightswood Park facility was transformed in the sun, sculpted, and pruned to perfection. It’s easily one of the most impressive looking tracks on the planet … but still big, steep, and technical, it had the potential to chew up and spit out the unexpecting rider.

Both the Under 23 Men and Women’s classes had bigger entries than their Elite counterparts, 82 men and 29 women, and provided a wealth of racing entertainment. Other than New Zealand’s Rico Bearman, Belgium’s Wannes Magdelijns and occasional flashes of brilliance from Team GB’s Matthew Gilston, the French, as you would guess, dominated the U23 Men’s class. Day one saw five of them in the final, and they finished one to five with Dylan Gobert, Leo Garoyan and Hugo Marszalek taking the podium spots in that order, after a first straight incident essentially took out the non-French contingent. The U23 Women’s class was controlled from the get-go by Malene Sorensen from Denmark, until the final rolled around! Canada’s Molly Simpson, from lane 2 got the perfect start, leaving Sorensen chasing until the final jump on the fourth straight were she finally made the pass to take the win. Switzerland’s Thalya Burford took the third spot.

With only 19 Elite Women in Glasgow, it would only take three laps to lift the trophy, which arguably would increase the tension in the pits, less time to read your rivals, less time to settle in.  Laura Smulders, Zoe Claessens and Team GBs Olympic Champion, Bethany Shriever all dominated the early rounds on day one. The semi-finals saw some unexpected exits for Pajon and Stancil, but Smulders, Shriever and Claessens all looked fast. When the gate dropped in the final it was Shriever who briefly got her wheel in front from lane four but by the end of the first straight it was the experience of Smulders that led the way with only Claessens hanging on. Bethany got consumed in the first turn and lost all momentum leaving the two leaders to pull further and further away … World Cup win number 24 for Laura, let that sink in, 24! Judy Baauw took third in an ever-increasing podium count for her. After the final, a jubilant Smulders exclaimed ‘I killed it in that final … actually, I’m a bit surprised by myself … the lap was perfect, I’m super happy!’

The Elite Men’s class was stacked, as per usual, with the exception of Niek Kimmann who’s taking some deserved time away. The list of who was operating at full speed is too long to delve into but just think the French, most of the French, all the French, Andre, Mayet, Clerte, Rencurel, Pilard … Colombia’s Diego Arboleda looked impressive despite nearly falling victim to the wind on Friday and Sharrock … Sharrock had the track dialled! Butti too! Kye Whyte didn’t look like he was at peak Kye, but the ‘professional professional’ was making it happen. Izaac Kennedy looked fast too but went out in the quarters, the track claimed others too, a slight lapse in concentration and you were ejected. When the gate in the final dropped it was Diego from lane two, Whyte had a shocker and was last at the bottom of the hill, Andre hadn’t fared much better. Only Mayet was keeping pace with Diego. Somehow Sylvain turned all his experience into contention by the first turn exit and Kye was making moves too but slipped back again to fifth. By the final turn Sylvain had stamped his authority on second but the crowd was going wild for Kye who was making up ground again quickly, fifth, fourth … third. But it was all about the Colombian, ‘I feel good, I feel strong, yea, it was a good day today’ … it certainly was. Amazing!

The weather on Day two was still playing ball … not as warm as Saturday but still no wind! The stands were sold out, and with both Max Cluer and Neil Stewart on the mics egging the fans on we were in for some high energy atmosphere, especially for the local talent. Round two turned out to be more erratic, more chaotic … more exciting … culminating in one of the craziest finals we’ve ever seen!

Before the chaos, the U23 Women where mostly in control. Malene Sorensen was dominating after her win on day one, with five or six bike lengths lead in her semi. The Red Bull Pump Track World Champion, Aiko Gommers was having a much better day and worked her way into the final. Surprisingly, Molly Simpson misjudged the gate in her semi and couldn’t make up the ground. When the final gate dropped, the favourite, Sorensen, instantly got swamped leaving Switzerland’s Thalya Burford room to open up … she led all the way to the line. Aiko was dead last going into turn one but fourth coming out … then third, then second on the line. Japan’s Tanno took third.

The U23 Men were going to script until semi-final number two where Rico Bearman had a bad gate, last to third, to sixth, to fourth on the line! He had gate seven when the final rolled around and lead from the start, hunted by the French all the way to the line. Bearman, Garoyan, Lui Hin Tsan!

All eyes were on Laura Smulders on Sunday. Could she get her 25th World Cup win? The home crowd wanted Beth, obviously. Laura looked comfortable and eased her way into the final from her semi. The Olympic Champion was also looking comfortable but a little bobble on the third straight left the door open for Zoe to pass Beth on the line.

Australia’s Saya Sakakibara got shot out of a canon when the gate dropped in the final but just couldn’t get over quick enough to cut off Shreiver. Somehow Smulders held her ground and emerged in second place from turn one, but the Olympic Champion was gone, three bike lengths ahead. Another small bobble on the third straight and Smulders was gaining ground … quickly. Photo finish! 25! Wow! Smulders, Shreiver, Sakakibara! We’ve run out of things to say about Laura Smulders when it comes to World Cups. It’s very possible that by the time Papendal finishes on the 12th June all we might have to say is, 27 …

The Elite Men put on a show … but a large part of the show was crazy! Round one winner Diego Arboleda fluffed his gate in his qualifying moto meaning he had to qualify through the LCQ, his day got quicker from there. Eddy Clerte was holding onto the fastest lap of the day until he went down hard all on his own while leading his 1/8. If just a few things start clicking for Eddy, we think the podiums will start coming thick and fast. Jeremy Rencurel looked good on day one, but he had found another gear for Sunday … our Saturday night prediction was looking promising.

The semis is when it got hectic. Rencurel left the other seven for dead on the gate in semi one, Van Der Burg tucked in behind, Sharrock went from seventh to third in turn one, Bias from eighth to seventh. With Mayet on the bubble, Bias was moving through the pack, seventh to sixth, sixth to fifth … there’s no passing in supercross, right? Bias missed out on his first World Cup final in a photo finish, but we think one is coming. Semi-final two got wild at the end of the first straight. Carlos Ramirez came unstuck on the last jump, bounced six feet to his left between two riders and took out his fellow Colombian, Garcia. Both got shredded when they hit the asphalt! Kennedy came out of the corner in first followed by Butti, Arboleda and Andre …Izaac fluffed the last straight and was passed by Cedric on the line, while Diego and Sylvain swapped positions more than once … but remember, there is no passing in supercross. If the semis were hectic the final was all out chaotic! Arboleda briefly looked like the double was on until the end of the short first straight, where he came together with Van Der Burg taking out both Sharrock and Mayet in the process. Only four riders left. At the time of impact Rencurel had nudged his wheel into first place and he was gone. Butti, Kennedy, and Sylvain somehow avoided the pile up and where in a battle for the podium. Kennedy caught Butti at the end of the second straight where they may have touched … Butti went down hard! Three left. Kennedy was gaining fast, maybe too fast for the technical track … he lost it on the last straight in a spectacular somersault. Only two left. Rencurel grabbed his first World Cup win and Sylvain grabbed yet another podium. Seven seconds later Kennedy crossed the line in third. Nuts.

Papendal is next, always brilliant but it now has to live up to the Glasgow hype. Will Sylvain and Laura leave Papendal with the coveted red leaders’ plates that they arrived with? Can Laura rack up win number 26 on the circuit? Can the Dutch men tame the French at home? Will we see the return of Niek? Tune in on June 11th and 12th for Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2022 UCI BMX World Cup … we can’t wait!

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War of Attrition in Lisbon | 2021 Red Bull UCI Pump Track World Championships

War of Attrition in Lisbon | 2021 Red Bull UCI Pump Track World Championships

A prolonged two-year global trek of the Red Bull UCI World Championship qualification tour culminated in 67 riders from 19 countries, gathering in Lisbon Portugal this past weekend, with only two goals … have fun and preferably leave with the coveted UCI Rainbow Jersey. Interestingly, for the first time in a UCI World Championships, the Women, of whom there were 34, outnumbered the 33 Men.

The first thing we should point out is that the images and video you see of the Velosolutions creation in Lisbon, do not do it justice, not even close! While it’s easy to appreciate the beauty of the setting in the Parque das Nações, the intensity of the track can only be absorbed in person. This is a Pump Track on steroids, the good ones! It’s technical, deep, exhaustingly long and sculpted to perfection … the perfect venue for the tactical war of attrition that was about to unfold.

Unlike some previous Red Bull Pump Track events you may have seen, this venue would have no head-to-head battles but would rely solely on timed runs. It essentially worked like this … in round one, a one-hour timer starts to count down (we think it was an hour, but for argument’s sake let’s say an hour). The 30+ riders in each category would go in turn to get one timed lap on the board, then they can elect to do another lap if they want to try and improve their time, and another, and another … they can try multiple laps, within the session time, to get that lap time down. The top 16 move on at the end of round one and then try to make the top 8, all the while the available session time is reduced … the war of attrition. Eventually the top two riders have a single timed run each for the jersey … exhaustion ensues!

The chatter around the track on the morning of the event was clear, keep an eye on France’s Eddy Clerte and Belgium’s Aiko Gommers … both were going fast, both are extremely skillful, and key to success on this particular Pump Track, both riders are buttery smooth! And that, in a nutshell, is what we love about these events, it essentially rewards skill, you win this by racking up bike time, not weights in the gym.

During practice Eddy was testing new lines, lines that no one else was attempting, lines that most of us wouldn’t see on the track, but Eddy was finding them … some concerned looks crept onto his competitors faces. We asked Eddy if he was going to pull out the big transfers during the timed runs … ‘Maybe’ he replied with a grin, we suspected he was enjoying the mind games … he pointed to the third straight and said, ‘I think I can jump that and save some time’ … he meant most of the straight!

Meanwhile Aiko was going about the business of dialling in the track, quietly, under the radar … but the other riders knew. You could see fingers pointing when she emerged onto the track.

The first cause of concern for Aiko, and all the other women, was Latvia’s Vineta Petersone’s first lap … a 26 second lap time flashed up on the board which was in the realm of the fastest men … the time was quickly corrected to 29.084 secs … still blisteringly quick. Only two women would eventually go faster, the current World Champion, Payton Ridenour and the soon to be new World Champion, Aiko Gommers.  Vineta couldn’t quite repeat her first lap again and unfortunately went out in the round of 16 with the number 1 on her plate … a victim of the physically draining, repeating laps, in a bid to reduce her time … the war of attrition in full effect. The USA’s Shealen Reno also fell victim to the ever-decreasing clock time and the increasing number of laps until her legs said no more.

When the men hit the track, Eddy was in full flow, nothing spectacular, just smooth and effortless … and a sub 27 second lap … mind games. He retired to the comfort of a beanbag trackside, watching the competition drain energy with every repeating lap. Eddy only did 6 laps all day, just one per round … his slowest, a 27.117 in the round of 8 … was still quicker than everyone else’s fastest time. While everyone else was seeing diminishing returns on their lap times as the day progressed, Eddy stayed consistent, and he still had a trick up his sleeve for the later rounds.

Aiko though, was not having it completely her way, The Olympic Bronze medallist, Merel Smulders was ominously hanging around the fastest lap times, Christa Von Niederhausern, who had made podiums in the previous two Red Bull Pump Track World Championships was also in the mix … and then there was Payton Ridenour. Payton had not been the fastest all day, similarly to when she won the rainbow stripes in 2019, but when it mattered, she dipped her toe in the sub 30 second club putting her in the driving seat for the final. Payton’s fast lap time put Aiko in a precarious second position in the round of 4, with Christa getting ready for another lap which could potentially put her in, and Aiko out of the final. Merel Smulders was seemingly settling for the bronze medal battle, opting to stay in the pits. The 17-year-old Aiko gambled and held her nerve, she decided her previous time was quick enough and also remained in the pits, admittedly after a brief consultation with Eddy Clerte. The gamble paid off … she made the final … with fresh legs.

Clerte emerged first for the men’s round of 4, the semi-final, dropping a blisteringly quick 26.67 and the massive third straight leap he alluded to earlier in the day, essentially making most of the obstacles on the third straight null and void! Germany’s Philip Schaub then wrote a 27.418 on the board, fast, but not Clerte fast. Thibault Dupont slid into third place until Niels Bensink and his OS20 bike, took it from with the big leap on the third straight, although a slight case killed some speed and kept him out of the top two and a chance at the jersey. Bensink made the only sensible decision available and laid it all on the line with another lap in a bid to make the final … he looked drained and unfortunately it didn’t pay off. The effort also blew out his legs leaving him to roll around in the ‘small final’, losing out on a podium finish.

Ridenour, with the fastest time in the semi chose to go first in the final and put in a solid 30.105 … meaning Aiko knew exactly what was required! With the sun setting in the background Aiko dropped in with the crowd going wild and amazingly recorded her second sub 30 second lap when it mattered and claimed her first World Title to the applause of Payton. At the finish line Aiko professed that she ‘just came here for the fun’ … we bet she enjoyed herself!

Clerte was next, headphones on, brimming with confidence but choosing to go second. Schaub cleaned his tyres, and with an uphill battle recorded a 28 sec lap, everyone knew it wasn’t enough … it was always going to be Eddy. Clerte rolled up and dropped in, quickly getting up to speed … another massive leap on the third straight and another ridiculously fast time … 26.920 … unbeatable! He ran to find his father and brother … World Champion! ‘It was a special moment … I’ve been dreaming about celebrating with my dad for three championships in a row now, this one just feels good!’

What Velosolutions, with the help of Red Bull, have achieved here is nothing less than extraordinary. The atmosphere, the intensity … the fun they have created is infectious, it’s impossible to not have a good time at these events … our only issue now is that the last two World Finals took place in Europe, meaning the next one is likely to be further afield … we’re going to have to start saving! But our pressing concern right now is finding a new supply of those yellow tropical Red Bull cans …

Watch the Full Replay HERE

See Full Results and Times HERE

Men’s Podium:

1: Eddy Clerte (France) 26.920

2: Philip Schaub (Germany) 28.920

3: Thibault Dupont (France) 29.211

Women’s Podium:

1: Aiko Gommers (Belgium) 29.755

2: Payton Ridenour (USA) 30.105

3: Christa Von Niederhausern (Switzerland) 30.225

For all the latest info. on the series, check out the links below …

Red Bull Pump Track: Website | Instagram | Facebook

Velosolutions: Website | Instagram | Facebook

UCI: Website | Instagram | Facebook

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2022 UCI BMX World Championship Format Changes

2022 see’s some interesting format changes to the UCI BMX World Championships in both the Challenge and Championship classes …

2022 UCI BMX World Championship Format Changes

2022 see’s some interesting format changes to the UCI BMX World Championships in both the Challenge and Championship classes …

The 2021 UCI BMX World Championships did not go to plan, in fact we were lucky there was an event at all due to Covid19. But, for 2022 the UCI are already working behind the scenes to make the World Championships, due to be held from July 26th – 31st, in Nantes, France, bigger and better. We already know of some major format changes that will take effect in France for both the Challenge and Championship classes.

The big one in the Challenge and Masters Classes, and one that we think will broadly be welcomed, is the introduction on mixed, or scrambled, motos, meaning you’ll races different competitors in each of your three qualifying motos. These motos will be seeded, we assume from the previous World Championships … who remembers Zolder 2019! This represents a return to a more traditional moto format and, in the grand scheme of things, an overall fairer format.

The Championship / Elite Classes will also see a change to the race format. The three Elite motos of past World Championships are to be replaced with the system used in the UCI World Cup series. One qualifying round where the top four move on to the knockout stages, and the remaining riders move on to the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) round, where the top two riders move on to the knockout stages, the rest go home.

While the fans miss out on the three-moto action the format is more familiar to the Championship riders, especially those on the UCI circuit. We hit up Swiss National Coach, David Graf, for his thoughts on the change, ‘Finally! Now we only have to advance this system to get full racks and I‘m all happy. My suggestion is … Round 1, then LCQ – but not taking all top twos. Just take the amount of riders to fill up the 1/8 finals. Let’s say after round 1 we have 52 riders that made it through. Then the rest of the field is fighting for the remaining 12 spots based on rank and times. And we now have full gates from the 1/8s all the way thru to the main’.

Another change in the Championship class at Worlds level is the introduction of the Under 23 class to the event. This will add a potential 152 extra riders to the weekend schedule, 72 women and 80 men.

The UCI have also clarified a question we heard a lot this year regarding the Under 23 class and Elite riders deciding to ‘race down’ … ‘At any stage during the calendar year (01 January to 31 December) if a rider aged between 19 to 22 enters a UCI BMX World Cup or UCI BMX World Championships in the Elite category, that rider must enter all future events in the Elite category. The rider may choose to return to the Under 23 category in the following calendar year, however all points earned in the Elite category will remain in the Elite ranking and not transfer to the Under 23 ranking.’ Interestingly, the UCI are placing more importance on the Under 23 class when it comes to Olympic Qualification, previously the Junior class riders could gather points but for the upcoming Olympic qualification cycle, it will be a nations 3 best Elite/Under 23 riders who will be in the points chase. Start paying more attention to that Under 23 class!

UCI: Website | Instagram | Facebook

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